A Better Day

Getting ready to board the funicular
Standing in front of statues in square in front of St. Michael's

Teresa taking pictures of St. Andrew's

View from the walkway around St. Andrew's

Pretty architecture

Cobble-stoned streets near Andriivsky Street

Steven on one of the pathways behind the orphanage

Steven playing his usual game of "I run and you chase me"

Teresa on the playground

First off, James, I sure love you and hope you have a great week at Kids Camp. Kevin, Billy, Scheri, Caleb, I love you so much and pray you have a super week, too.

Today Teresa and I headed off to Andriivsky Street which is an essential part of any trip to Kyiv --Souvenir Alley. I am always so proud of myself when I get somewhere and home without Kevin's help. :) And we made it! We headed up the funicular, past St. Michael's and then down the side street to St. Andrews which Teresa really enjoyed, particularly the shade of green of the exterior. I showed her where the SDA appointments are held right next door. Then we started down the trail of the vendors and I think we did pretty well. One thing different this time is that my toes and fingers weren't freezing by the time we left. We were starving by then so went into McDonalds back down by the Metro and I managed to get what I ordered with the exception of straws for our drinks. :) And I forgot to ask for ketchup which I think is another 3 grievnas apiece. But the drinks were ice-cold and the fries were hot and the special sauce on our Big Macs was yummy. Surprisingly, the air conditioning was on a bit of over-kill in my opinion--though it doesn't take a lot to make me cold.

Then we decided to go ahead and try to see Steven though we were running a little late. I am so, so, so glad we did. He and other little boys were playing outside because the weather was so pleasant. One of the workers showed us how to get outside. When Steven caught sight of us, he whooped with delight and came running to us. Wow! Did that ever bless this momma's heart. I think he actually missed seeing us over the weekend. We of course kissed him and hugged him. He still spent a lot of time running off but it seemed more appropriate outside. He definitely wanted to be chased. A couple times he actually ran toward me rather than away from me. Thank you, God! And thanks everyone for your prayers!

Our 10 day wait is now over!!! So we are supposed to be ready at 8 am for Alexey to pick us up. As I understood it, our first stop will be the court to pick up the adoption decree. Nastya said that may take some time. Then we are to head to the orphanage with the decree so the orphanage director will give some necessary paperwork. Next we go to the birth certificate office--I believe to the particular office where Steven's original birth certificate was filed. And lastly we do something to start the passport rolling. So it sounds like it will be a busy, somewhat tedious day but an extremely important one in the final part of the adoption process. Oh, how wonderful it is to type that word: FINAL.

Then tonight I got to talk to both Lyndi and Gillian on the phone. They are both here in Kiev--in fact it sounds like Lyndi is in the identical apartment we occupied in December!! And Amy is here as well for her SDA appointment tomorrow. Doesn't this sound like way too much fun :)

Just a little note: my hopes to get pictures on here haven't panned out so far :( The only USB port I see on this computer is on the back where all the other cords are plugged. I tried putting my little picture thingy there but nothing happened on the screen where I could download the photos. Sorry, you guys all know I am far from a computer whiz.

Thanks for your continued prayers and comments.